Houghton guard Luke Hill looks for an open teammate during a game this season against Negaunee at the Houghton High School Gym. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — When Luke Hill was considering his options for college, he had some options in mind, given that he has been a star athlete at Houghton High School in three different sports. He ultimately decided that Grand Valley State would be the best fit for him, both for their academics, and also for their record of success in sports.

Now, he feels relief in his decision to join the Lakers’ track and field team.

“It feels really good,” he said. “I was a little late, I think, on trying to find a college and knowing where to go. I toured a couple of DIII (NCAA Division III) schools downstate for basketball, and I didn’t really like them.

“It feels really good to know that I’m going to Grand Valley to be part of a good track program.”

Athletics was just part of the package that sold HIll on Grand Valley.

“I want to be a teacher, and they have a good teaching program down there,” he said. “They have a super good track program. I went down there for a basketball camp and I got to look at all their facilities. We got a tour and during it (we) went into this hall with all the awards and stuff, and I saw for Division II sports, they’ve been No. 1 for like 21 years.”

At the same time, Hill is aware that Allendale is a big change from Houghton.

“It’ll be a change from here for sure though, because I’ve never really been in the big city.” he said. “It’s very exciting.”

A true multi-sport athlete

Hill has been a successful athlete in multiple sports at Houghton during his four years. As a football player, he was on the varsity team as a sophomore. As a junior, he won the Tom O’Neal Award and was a WestPAC honorable mention as a center. As a senior, he was given the Senior Leader Award, but was named to the WestPAC Second Team and he served as a team captain.

He was varsity basketball player all four years, and served as a team captain for his final two seasons. He scored 1,198 points over the course of his career, and even tied a school record, hitting nine threes in a game.

He was a WestPAC First Team Copper Division player as a sophomore, and as a junior. He was also named to the WestPAC Defensive Team. As a senior, he was named to the WestPAC Dream Team and was an All-U.P. Second Team selection. He was named Houghton’s most valuable player as well.

In track and field, he has been on the varsity team for all four years. He competed in three events in the U.P. Finals in each of his three years so far. He won the 800m, the 1600m, and the 4x800m relay as a junior.

He was named team most valuable player as a sophomore. He was also named the WestPAC most valuable distance runner as both a sophomore and a junior. He has been named All-State all three years so far.

“I really love to compete, and out of all the sports, track and basketball were probably my two favorites,” he said. “Football, it was a lot, but I was just trying to find whichever sport I could compete at the highest level in, and that ended up being track. I’m very excited to just see how far I can take it.”

One of his coaches throughout his high school career, Jared Lawson, Houghton’s middle school track coach when Hill was competing, and the varsity basketball coach, feels that Hill’s work ethic is what sets him apart.

“For basketball, he’s the definition of a self-made player,” Lawson said. “He’s not one that came in with a skill set. You can see even in third or second grade, he’s an athlete. But, the amount of time he put in, and his work ethic in terms of bettering himself as a basketball player, is pretty unrivaled. He also came along with three other guys that were putting in equal amount of time, and that was just unheard of up here, especially in the Copper Country. So it was a pretty special year, all four of those guys putting in time that they did.

“Luke’s work ethic, I think, is unmatched pretty much anywhere. I would put it up against anyone anywhere in the country. There’s no doubt about that. And now track, he is an absolute beast. I think he’s just a natural-born athlete for the track that he’s doing.”

For Hill, trying his hand at all the sports he did, including cross country, made him a more well-rounded athlete.

“It’s been a great experience,” he said. “Different sports have very different environments, and it’s been very fun to be a part of so many different programs. I really enjoyed it.”

Following family

Hill’s father, Anders, played college football at Central Michigan, so that was a big motivating factor for his son.

“I take a lot of that motivation from family and coaches,” Hill said. “My dad played Division I football, and he’s always given me the best opportunity to compete in sports. He brings me in to lift, he brings me into shoot, and he makes me lunch and breakfast some days. I’ve had a lot of good coaches, so it’s kind of like I want to live up to the opportunities I’m given.”

Football was his first real dream sport.

“When I was in middle school, all I dreamed of was being a center in the NFL,” he said. “Corey Linsley used to be the center for the (Green Bay) Packers, and I used to have a Corey Linsley jersey that I’d wear to school all the time. I was big on football and playing center. I didn’t want to play receiver, quarterback, or anything else, but that just didn’t pan out.”

So, Hill talked with his father, who pointed out some other important things to keep in mind.

“My dad, he was a multi-sport athlete in high school too, and he was always telling me doing these sports are complementary of each other,” said Hill. “You gain foot speed from basketball, toughness from football, and everything’s going to help each other.”

While sports have been such a big part of his life, Hill also acknowledged that his father has been influential in his decision to get into education.

“I’ve been around education my whole life, because my dad was the principal in Menominee, and then he was the principal at the elementary school (in Houghton), and then the superintendent here,” Hill said. “That kind of goes with training and teaching, because I’d be stuck at the elementary school for two, three hours every day after school. So, I’d play basketball, and then I’d go walk around and help teachers with stuff.

“I’ve had a lot of enjoyment in schools, around schools, and in classrooms.”

That enjoyment led to him getting into peer mentoring.

“This year, I was able to take a peer mentoring class, so I got to be in a classroom and help students, and it’s been really fun,” he said. “I think it sort of added to my whole experience. I thought I would enjoy it and I’ve had lots of fun. I’m in Mrs. Geberkoff’s eighth grade science room every day, and I work with a couple of students. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Finding his distance

While to most outsiders, going from football, especially as a lineman, to running distance seems like a strange combination. To Hill, it makes perfect sense.

“It came out of the blue though, for sure,” he said. “I had no idea I’d be good at track. In my first middle school track meet, I took off in the two-mile and everybody was nervous, because I took off sprinting and they thought I was going to die out. I ended up breaking the middle school two-mile record in my first race.”

Hill said that he had to figure out how to run distance, but he learned that patience pays off.

“It’s kind of like just like patient endurance,” he said. “I kind of have fun with it too, because it’s like your draft. I like to start fast and see what’s happening, and then, as the race goes on, I’ll tuck in behind somebody and ride them until the end. Then no matter what, you have to finish those last two or like two laps, one lap, strong, pushing as hard as you can.”

Hill has a plan, but plans can change as a race evolves.

“Sometimes it’s planned, like in U.P. finals last year, my coach and I had a really good plan,” he said. “I was going to kick at the 600-meter mark, and nobody was going to be ready. I was going to take off and hold it, and it worked out last year.

“Sometimes it just happens. You feel the pace slow a little bit, or you feel the race getting away from you, and you just have to go.”

In distance running, the kick is one of the most important keys. Hill found his right away.

“My kick’s kind of always been there,” he said, “that instinct to go at the very end. I’ve had problems with starting races too fast, though. Even just the other day, I was running a 400, and I got myself all dialed up, and I thought I was going to fly, and I took off and ran a crazy first 200 split, and I hit lactic acid with 100 meters to go, and I had to walk across the finish line.”

Hill will have that part of his running style in place before U.P. Finals, and then he will have plenty of time to work on maintaining his skill prior to the start of classes in the Fall.